Like this:

There are some for whom the connection between the Poker Prof and The Second Story Man are obvious. For some, it is absolutely clear that the “ethics” that Mr. Swartz was taught at Harvard lead directly–perhaps with guidance–to his indictment. Others would say that there’s no proof of that “leap”. How would we ever know exactly what the student was taught? How could we reconstruct what the fly on the wall would have heard during office hours?

We would get close to that experience by watching this video of Lessig’s recent lecture at CERN (April 2011)–it does take an hour or so–but see how you feel about that “leap” after sitting through the significant part of the lecture devoted to JSTOR bashing.

And then decide if Lessig’s reference that JSTOR is the “RIAA of academy” (at 16:14) is the kind of thing that would have seductive powers to a certain group of the disaffected members of the complicit community joined together by his unifying ideology. That for some could justify a leap to the crimes of which the accused was indicted. (Aside from the fact that the analogy is completely off base–the RIAA doesn’t license anything, and even when the copyright owners bring litigation, that is exactly what happens. The copyright owners bring the litigation, not the RIAA, aside from one lawsuit over a decade ago.)

Do you think that if someone like Lessig compares anyone to the RIAA he is giving the dog whistle that it’s OK to hate? Maybe by comparing JSTOR to the RIAA he was seeking to accomplish this? And do you think that any conversation he may have had with students, particularly fellows who probably get more individualized attention, also made this comparison?

And if the comparison was made, do you think that it was made in the subdued and reasonable sounding tone of a public speech at a leading institution that he knew would be covered by the press and recorded for posterity, or do you think it was more likely to be in that kind of rambling diatribe that produces quotes like “Hollywood needs to get over it.”

Was it the final “attaboy” that was needed to push the student into martyrdom?